King James Version · The united kingdom
1 Samuel 4
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And the word of came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the to battle, and pitched beside Eben–ezer: and the pitched in . And the put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the : and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. And when the people were come into the camp, the said, Wherefore hath smitten us to day before the ? Let us fetch the of out of unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may us out of the hand of our . So the people sent to , that they might bring from thence the of of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of , Hophni and , were there with the of . And when the of came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. And when the heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the ? And they understood that the was come into the camp. And the were afraid, for they said, is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. Woe unto us! who shall us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the with all the plagues in . Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye , that ye be not servants unto the , as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight. And the fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. And the was taken; and the two sons of , Hophni and , were slain. And there ran a man of out of the army, and came to the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. And when he came, lo, sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for trembled for the . And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. 14And when heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told . Now was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see. And the man said unto , I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son? And answered and said, Israel is fled before the , and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and , are , and the is taken. And it came to pass, when he made mention of the , that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the , and his neck brake, and he : for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. 19And his daughter in law, ’ wife, was with child, near to be : and when she heard the tidings that the was taken, and that her in law and her husband were , she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. And about the time of her the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it. And she named the child I–chabod, saying, The is departed from Israel: because the was taken, and because of her in law and her husband. And she said, The is departed from Israel: for the is taken.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · The united kingdom, 1050 BC to 931 BC ›
Saul, David, and Solomon. A rare window when both Egypt and Mesopotamia are weak, which is how a small kingdom in the corridor between them could briefly become a regional power.
- The power vacuum
- This is the whole political explanation for the united kingdom. Egypt is fragmented, Assyria is recovering but still local, the Hittites are gone, and nobody is in a position to object to a strong state in the corridor. It lasts about a century, and Israel's golden age fits exactly inside it.
- Phoenicia
- Tyre under Hiram is the commercial power of the coast, and supplies the cedar, the craftsmen, and the shipping for Solomon's building programme. The alliance is trade, not charity: Israel had grain and a land route, Tyre had timber and ships.
- Egypt
- Weak enough that a pharaoh gives a daughter in marriage to an Israelite king, which is the opposite of Egyptian practice in stronger centuries. Late in the era it recovers under a new house, and Shishak will invade within five years of Solomon's death.
- Further afield
- Greece is still in its dark age but beginning to recover, and will adopt the Phoenician alphabet within a century or two. Carthage is founded by settlers from Tyre by tradition in 814 BC. In the Americas the Olmec centre shifts to La Venta.